Just a guy in Vermont trying to connect all the dots...
Dan York
Author's posts
Feb 04
Many DNSSEC and DANE Activities At ICANN52 Next Week In Singapore
What is happening with DNSSEC in the Asia-Pacific region? What are DNSSEC and DANE all about, anyway? What challenges are large DNS operators encountering when deploying DNSSEC? All of these questions and many more will be discussed next week at ICANN 52 in Singapore. Here is the quick guide – please note that all times are Singapore Time which is UTC+8. (So, for instance, the 8:30 am SGT start time of the DNSSEC Workshop on Wednesday, 11 Feb, will be 1:30am Wednesday in Central European Time and 7:30pm Tuesday evening in US Eastern time.)
DNSSEC For Everybody: A Beginner’s Guide
The week starts off on Monday, 9 February, 2015, with the regular “DNSSEC For Everybody: A Beginner’s Guide” session from 17:00 – 18:30 SGT where we’ll be explaining what DNSSEC is all about and also putting on our “skit” dramatizing what happens with DNS and DNSSEC. I don’t know if we’ll be awarded an Emmy anytime soon for our performance… but we have a good bit of fun with it and people have commented that it has really helped them understand how DNS and DNSSEC work.
You can follow along remotely (or watch it later) at:
http://singapore52.icann.org/en/schedule/mon-dnssec-everybody
Oh, and you get to see me talk about DNSSEC and blue smoke…
DNSSEC Implementers Gathering
As we noted previously, on Monday evening from 19:30-21:30 some number of us will be heading to a nearby pub for the “DNSSEC Implementers Gathering” where we’ll be talking informally amongst ourselves and figuring out how we can work together to accelerate DNSSEC and DANE adoption. For perhaps obvious reasons, there is no remote participation available, but if you are in Singapore you are welcome to join us – we just ask for your RSVP by the end of the day tomorrow, Thursday, February 6, 2015. Thanks to Comcast, NBC Universal and the MPAA for making this gathering possible, as they also did at ICANN 51 in L.A.
DNSSEC Workshop
The BIG event for the week is of course the DNSSEC Workshop on Wednesday, 11 February 2015, starting at 8:30 and ending at 14:45 SGT. It will be streamed live and you can join in at this address:
http://singapore52.icann.org/en/schedule/wed-dnssec
The slides and other information will be up soon, but I can tell you the agenda will be this:
- Introduction and DNSSEC Deployment Around the World
- 10th Anniversary of DNSSEC Workshops
- DNSSEC Deployment in the Asia Region
- Reverse DNS and DNSSEC in Japan
- ccTLD Deployment Experiences
- The Operational Realities of Running DNSSEC
- When Unexpected DNSSEC Events Occur
- DNSSEC and DNS Operators
As a member of the Program Committee, I am very pleased with the presentations and speakers we have and I’m very much looking forward to the event. The last panel, in particular, is of interest to me as it will involve a number of DNS operators, including CloudFlare, talking about challenges they have encountered while rolling out large-scale DNSSEC and looking to identify solutions within the community. It should be a very interesting session. I also always enjoy the DNSSEC case studies from the regional panels.
There will be a number of other side meetings and other discussions going on, but these are the main sessions. I also understand there will be some DNSSEC activity happening at Tech Day on Monday, 9 February, but the agenda has not yet been posted. We’ll publish an update once we know more.
If you are at ICANN 52 in Singapore please do find me at one of the events and say hello, or drop me an email message and we can arrange a time to connect. You will of course find info on our Deploy360 social media channels during the events next week. You can also follow along with our ICANN 52 blog posts as we publish them next week.
And if you want to get started NOW with deploying DNSSEC, why not visit our Start Here page to find resources tailored for your type of organization?
Feb 04
We Don’t Know How Much Time We Have Left
We don't know how much time we have left in our lives. We don't know when the lives of those around us may end.
It could be today.
It could be tomorrow.
It could be twenty years from now.
It could be in some dramatic fashion such as an explosion or an airplane crash.
Or it could be in some more mundane way like slipping on ice and hitting one's head... or being in a car accident... or being hit by a car while crossing a street... or just... simply... having... one's... heart... s..t..o..p.....
We don't know.
We will never know.
Until the time runs out... and a life is gone.
At which point... it's too late to say all those things we wish we would have said.
It's too late for that extra "I love you" that you wish you could have said, or the hug you wish you would have given.
It's too late.
We need to realize that each day could be our last... or could be the last of those around us.
What do we want those last memories of us to be?
Do we want people to remember us as kind and helpful? Or mean and angry? Or somewhere in between?
Do we want the last words people heard from us to be ones of anger? Or dismissal? or hatred? Or do we want them to be words of love and kindness?
Do we want to live our life regretting that we didn't tell someone how much they meant to us before they passed on? Or regretting that the last words they heard from us where those in anger?
In our every action, we choose whether to build people up... or tear people down. It's our choice.
We don't know how much time we have left. We don't know when the lives of those around us may end.
We will never know.
Image credit: elycefeliz on Flickr
Feb 03
FIR On Technology Episode 3 – Understanding Markdown
What is the Markdown language all about? How is it being used on sites like Ello, Github and in the Jetpack plugin for WordPress? Why should communicators and others involved in PR or marketing careabout Markdown? How can it help more rapidly create content for the web?
Those are all questions I sought to answer in episode 3 of FIR On Technology with Dan York that I published last Friday. The podcast is now available for listening directly on the FIR website or in iTunes or the podcast RSS feeds.
On the episode web page I also provided a list of links for people wanting to know more about Markdown, which I'm reprinting here:
- Wikipedia on Markup languages
- Wikipedia on Markdown
- Markdown Overview
- Markdown Basics
- Markdown Syntax
- Markdown in the Jetpack plugin for WordPress
- WordPress.com Markdown Quick Reference
- Ello: How To Format Posts Using Markdown
- GitHub Flavored Markdown
- MultiMarkdown
- Markdown Extra
- CommonMark
- 35+ Markdown Apps For The Mac
- MacDown
- The Best Markdown Editors for Windows
- 78 Tools for Writing and Previewing Markdown
I've found using Markdown to be extremely helpful in rapid content creation. I've naturally been using it on Ello (where I also wrote about this FIR On Technology episode) and on Github, but I'm also starting to use it for some posts on a couple of my WordPress sites courtesy of the Jetpack plugin. As I note in the episode, Markdown is not something necessarily new... after all it first came out in 2004... but it has seemed to attract more interest in recent years.
One point I forgot to make in the episode is that Markdown is not the only "lightweight markup language" out there. There are definitely other similar languages, each with their own take on how to make markup simple. An example I've used on several sites in the past is Textile. However, my interest these days has been in Markdown, and there seems to be a good bit of momentum behind the language... and so hence this podcast.
Anyway... I hope you find it useful and helpful. If you do, or if you have other comments or ideas or suggestions about Markdown, please do leave a comment here - or over in the FIR Podcast Community on Google+.
Enjoy!
P.S. I also recorded a The Dan York Report episode providing a preview of this FIR On Technology episode:
If you found this post interesting or useful, please consider either:
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Feb 02
TDYR 221 – Explaining Markdown in FIR On Technology Episode 3
TDYR 221 - Explaining Markdown in FIR On Technology Episode 3 by Dan York
Feb 02
Two Great Articles In ArsTechnica And Light Reading About ION Conferences, IPv6, DNSSEC
We were pleased to see two great articles out today about our ION Conferences and our efforts to accelerate the deployment of IPv6 and DNSSEC. The articles followed on our news release about the 2015 ION conferences and were:
- Ars Technica: Internet Society tries to serve ‘Net providers tasty IPv6-and-DNSSEC salad by Iljitsch van Beijnum
and
- Light Reading: ISOC Urges Faster Security Standards Adoption by Carol Wilson
Both articles do a great job of explaining what we’re trying to do. I enjoyed that both writers liked the “broccoli” angle. Here was Carol Wilson:
“It’s a little like getting people to eat their broccoli,” Grunderman admits. Network operators can’t charge more for services after deploying these standards, but their deployment makes the entire Internet experience better for everyone by adding security and resiliency.
Exactly!
Many thanks to both writers for taking the time to understand what we are doing and to write about it on their respective sites.
And if you would like to get started with IPv6 or DNSSEC, please visit our Start Here page to begin!
Feb 02
Congratulations To Alec Saunders On His Move To Microsoft
And now he's returning to his roots! He was one of the first product managers for Internet Explorer at Microsoft... and now he's back at Microsoft again! As he says in his post:
As of last Monday, I’ve rejoined Microsoft in the role of Principal Technical Evangelist. My beat is Canada – not just Kitchener-Waterloo. My boss is Microsoft Chief Evangelist and Corporate Vice President for Developer Experience, Steven “Guggs” Guggenheimer. I’m part of the global Microsoft Ventures team. And we run programs, like the Microsoft Ventures Accelerators, that are focused on helping early stage companies achieve their full potential.
I've long been skeptical about Microsoft and frustrated with many of their products and services. In particularly I haven't been pleased at all with the lackluster evolution of Skype (or really lack thereof) under Microsoft's watch... but the list of other products that have frustrated me can go on.
BUT... I'll admit that they've been doing some interesting things lately - and their new leadership seems like they have a clue. It's probably a great time for dynamic people like Alec to re-join Microsoft. The role sounds perfect for him... using so many of his different strengths!
I'm looking forward to seeing what he does in that role ... and if my travels bring me back up to Canada I'll look forward to catching up with him somewhere in all the madness.
Congrats, Alec!
If you found this post interesting or useful, please consider either:
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Feb 02
FIR #793 – 2/2/15 – For Immediate Release
Nominate FIR for Podcast Awards and write a review for iTunes; Quick News: Facebook owns social sharing, British Army sets up brigade to win the Information Age, Uber's models come to the workplace, PR firm launches WhatsApp information service; Ragan promo; News That Fits: Pros and cons of microchipped employees, Dan York's Tech Report, 7 scientific reasons to use emoticons, Media Monitoring Minute from CustomScoop, listener comments, online reputation becomes more valuable than money or power, Igloo Software promo, the last week on the FIR Podcast Network, designing for mobile-only and Snapchat's new Discover service; how to comment; music from Keller Williams; and more.
Feb 02
FIR #793 – 2/2/15 – For Immediate Release
Nominate FIR for Podcast Awards and write a review for iTunes; Quick News: Facebook owns social sharing, British Army sets up brigade to win the Information Age, Uber's models come to the workplace, PR firm launches WhatsApp information service; Ragan promo; News That Fits: Pros and cons of microchipped employees, Dan York's Tech Report, 7 scientific reasons to use emoticons, Media Monitoring Minute from CustomScoop, listener comments, online reputation becomes more valuable than money or power, Igloo Software promo, the last week on the FIR Podcast Network, designing for mobile-only and Snapchat's new Discover service; how to comment; music from Keller Williams; and more.
Feb 01
NFL Super Bowl to Stream Live Today for Free – Who Will Be Measuring Statistics? (Featured Blog)
Today NBC is streaming the NFL's Super Bowl live for free through mobile apps as well as their NBC Sports website. Given the number of "cord-cutters" and mobile users out there, I suspect there should be a good number of people watching the event through the live streams today. More...
